Detour | Venice, Italy – Day Two

Give Me ALL The Pizza

Day Two in Venice, Italy and we woke up to a perfect summer’s day.Skipping breakfast, because A. It was bound to be a giant buffet of gluten, and B. I still don’t understand why Italian’s serve cake for breakfast, we got ready for the day and head outside, in search of coffee. And y’know what we didn’t do? We didn’t get stressed about whether we were lost or not (just for the record, we were) like we did on Day One. OMG what was this laid back feeling we both had, I believe you call it relaxed?

Wandering the Venice labyrinth, we soaked up the atmosphere and sat at a cafe for cappuccino’s. We were constantly wowed with every corner we turned, at the sheer beauty of the place. It’s mesmerising to stand on a bridge and watch all the water traffic whizzing up and down the Grand Canal, and then wander down an alley way to be greeted by a magnificent church, a magical view or a cute little restaurant.

I’d scoped out a good gluten free pizza place, so we’d circled Oke on our map and felt proud of ourselves that we actually located it, without walking in circles 57 times. Situated on the water’s edge, we sat under our sun umbrella, devouring the most amazing pizza’s for lunch. Oke did justice to gluten free pizza!

That afternoon we continued exploring, eating gelato and granita, and deciding that we’d shell out 70 euros for a gondola ride. I mean, you’ve got to do it once right? The price rises to 100 euros after 6pm, so we hightailed it in the direction of where we’d hoped to paddle around, and luckily found a gondolier just in time. The whole experienced lasted about 25 minutes, so it’s best not to think about whether the cost versus the time is actually worth it. Just hand over the cash and go with it! We bobbed along the canals, past the opera house and the hotel I’d stayed in on my first visit to Venice, and to be honest it was all over pretty quickly. Would I go on a gondola again? Yes, but with a group of friends, to split the cost, and to also pay extra for an opera singer or an accordion player, because those gondola rides look so fun!

Jumping off our gondola, and finding our way back to our hotel, we quickly got changed and walked back to the water to board the Hilton Molino Stucky Hotel water taxi. Situated on one of the outer islands, this Hilton hotel has an amazing rooftop bar called Skyline, that looks back over at Venice and therefore the perfect setting for sunset drinks. We arrived, took the elevator up to the top floor, and OH GREEEEAT there was a private event so we couldn’t go in. ARGGH! The next hotel water taxi back to Venice was an hour away, and we weren’t that interested in paying 60 euros for a private boat, so we stuck it out in the hotel bar, before finally arriving back in Venice.

It was around 10.30pm by this time, we’d not had dinner and the night felt a little like it had been stolen from us. So the first thing we did was head back to Suso Gelato shop and get ice cream. Because ice cream solves all the world’s problems! The idea of calling it quits and heading to bed was tempting, but we’d met the most adorable British family earlier in the day who’d told us about a wine bar, hidden away down an alley, facing out to the Grand Canal. So we mustered up what energy we had left and followed their directions to Taverna al Remer, and I’m so glad we did. This place was just amazing, dimly lit, with live music, it felt like we’d been let in on a really good secret, sitting there with prosecco in hand (at the bargain price of 5 euros a glass) and listening to the woman singing. We left just before midnight, and I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. A perfect day spent in Venice, Italy.

Hi Shannice, thanks for reading! Venice is the best, we are hoping to go back again next for a few days, I can’t get enough of the place! The gondola prices are craaaaazy, and honestly, I think it would be more fun to do with a bunch of friends, the idea seems romantic, but then you get onboard and spend the whole time taking photos haha! Fab that you’re living in Italy, what an adventure for you! x